The top 5 New York Rangers of the 2010s

The 2010s was a successful decade for the New York Rangers, led by a cadre of outstanding players

It may feel like a long lost dream, but during the past decade of NHL play, the New York Rangers were a top team in the league. From the 2010-11 season through the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season, the Blueshirts played in the post season eight times. During that time, only the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals had more than the Rangers’ eight appearances.

Through quality drafting and savvy trades, the New York Rangers built a core of steady and solid players. Glen Sather and later Jeff Gorton would use free agency to supplement the core with star talent. That mixture of players would lead the Blueshirts to a Stanley Cup finals appearance, two Eastern Conference Finals and a Presidents Trophy over a four year span from 2011-12 through 2014-15.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, their window of contention was relatively short lived. Just two and a half seasons after winning the Presidents’ trophy, the Rangers embarked on a rebuild. The now famous letter to the fans was sent out on February 8, 2018 and was promptly followed by the selling off of established players at consecutive trade deadlines.

Now the New York Rangers are building a new core with star players like Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, but who were the best among them over the last decade? What players paved the path for the most successful Rangers team since the 1993-94 Stanley Cup Championship team. Please join Blue Line Station as we take a look at the top five New York Rangers over the last decade.

Let’s start with the Honorable Mentions …

Fifth place: #20 Chris Kreider

Chris Kreider came to the Rangers in dramatic fashion, joining the team for their 2011-12 Eastern Conference Playoff run. He would go on to score five playoff goals before ever playing a regular season game. In the years since, no other New York Ranger has scored more than Kreider’s 157 regular season or 24 playoff goals.

A Ranger for eight seasons, Kreider sits third in overall points scored (316), third in plus/minus (+68) and second in games played (523). He was an important player to the team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 and won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2015. While never reaching the 30 goal mark, he has topped 20 goals five times and has exceeded the 50 point plateau twice.

Kreider has developed into a leader for the team and is an important key to its success now more than ever. Having just signed a seven-year contract extension, he is the only player in the top five that is still a member of the Blueshirts.

Fourth place: #36 Mats Zuccarello

If there was ever a fan favorite player to wear New York Rangers blue, Mats Zucarello was he. Known affectionally as Zucc or the Hobbit, what he lacked in stature, he made up for in heart 100 times over. Zuccarello joined the team after impressing the organization with his showing at the 2010 Winter Olympics where he starred for Norway.

Zuccarello  became a regular on the team in 2013-14 and quickly led the team in scoring that season with 59 points. He would lead the team in scoring an additional three more times in three straight seasons from 2015-16 through 2017-18. Scoring a career high 61 points in 2015-16, he is one of only seven Rangers players to exceed the 60 point mark during the decade.

Playing for the Rangers over parts of nine seasons, Zuccarello ranks second in scoring for the decade with 352 points. He leads the team with 239 assists while appearing in 509 games, ranking fifth. Zuccarello also added 31 points in 60 playoff appearances, good for sixth most on the team. Zucc’s Rangers tenure was ended at the 2019 trade deadline when he was traded to the Dallas Stars for two conditional draft picks.

Had Dallas advanced to the 2019 Western Conference Finals and Zuccarello been retained, both picks would have been first rounders. Instead, with Dallas losing in the second round and Zuccarello leaving to the Minnesota Wild via free agency, the picks remained a second and third rounder. In 2018, the Rangers chose Matthew Robertson (#49) in the second round and in this past draft, Oliver Tarnstrom (#92) with the third rounder.

Third place: #21 Derek Stepan

Derek Stepan came to the New York Rangers after a collegiate career with the Wisconsin Badgers. His professional career got off to a booming start in 2010 with a hat trick in his first NHL game in Buffalo versus the Sabres. He would go on to post 45 points in his rookie campaign, solidifying himself as the second line center.

In his second season he would improve upon his rookie production, posting 51 points. Over his seven years with the team Stepan would record better than 50 points five times. He would reach 57 points in the 2013-14 campaign, his career high. Stepan’s most productive years ironically came in seasons in which he played his fewest games.

During the lock-out shortened 2012-13 season, Stepan led the team in scoring by posting 44 points in 48 games. His 44 points were tied for 21st highest in the league. Two seasons later, after suffering a leg injury in training camp, he was able to appear in only 68 games. Stepan would record 55 points, third most on the Rangers that season.

Overall, Stepan appeared in 515 games for the Blueshirts, leading all forwards in time on ice and recorded a team high 360 points in the decade. He would score more than 20 goals twice and finished in the top 10 in voting for both the Lady Byng and Selke Trophies during the 2012-13 season. Stepan also led all Rangers in playoff scoring, recording 49 points in 97 playoff appearances.

Stepan was a consistent, but not prolific points producer, though his two-way game was highly underrated. During the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals he limited Anze Kopitar to one even strength assist, derailing his Conn Smythe consideration. In his seven years with the Rangers, Stepan posted a plus/minus rating of +109, second best on the Rangers and fourth most among all NHL centers. Only Jonathan Towes, Patrice Bergeron and Sidney Crosby had higher ratings during that time span.

Stepan’s importance to the team was highlighted when he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes along with Antti Raanta in exchange for Tony DeAngelo and the 7th overall pick in the 2017 entry draft.  The loss of Stepan was a blow to the team’s depth and left a glaring hole at center. The trade may have predated the official announcement of the rebuild, but it is what started it.

Second place: #27 Ryan McDonagh

Ryan McDonagh was acquired as part of the trade that sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2009. It’s a trade that is one of the most lopsided wins for the Rangers, perhaps ever. McDonagh would spend another season with the Wisconsin Badgers before turning pro. He would start the first half of the 2010-11 season in the AHL and make his NHL debut on January 7, 2011, never looking back.

By the next season it was clear that McDonagh was the Rangers best defenseman. He would eventually go on to supplant Marc Staal as the top pairing left defenseman and be paired with Dan Girardi. The partnership would even survive separate moves by both players to Tampa Bay. His best season for the Rangers was in 2013-14 where he recorded career highs in both points (43) and goals (14) and finished in the top 10 in voting for the Norris Trophy.

Over parts of eight seasons McDonagh would score 238 points for the New York Rangers, good for fifth best overall. To compare, the next closest defenseman on the list is Dan Girardi with only 150 points. McDonagh would also lead the team in time on ice and in plus/minus, registering a +141 rating. His +141 rates second best among defensemen in the league behind only Zdeno Chara’s +157.

McDonagh would post an additional 41 points in the playoffs in 96 appearances. In the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, McDonagh would score four points and play more than 30 minutes three times with high of 42:12 in fifth and final game. Before the next season, McDonagh would be named the Captain of the New York Rangers. He would be the 27th Captain in team history and at 25 years of age, the fourth youngest.

McDonagh would serve as Captain for most of four seasons as he became the most significant casualty of the Rangers rebuild. Along with J.T. Miller, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lighting for Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, the #28 pick in the 2018 Entry Draft (Nils Lundkvist) and a conditional second round pick, #58, in 2019 (Karl Henriksson).

First place: #1 Henrik Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist had been the face of the franchise for 14 of his 15 seasons with the team. That he was the team’s goaltender makes it more difficult to compare him directly to the rest of the team. It is simply apples to oranges. There is no true way to equate wins, save percentage (SV%) and goals against average (GAA) to goals, assists, points and plus/minus.

One look at how Lundqvist compares to his peers in net over the last decade spells out all that is needed to be known. In the first five seasons of the decade, The King won the Vezina Trophy (2012), was the runner up (2013), and finished in the top six in Vezina voting three other times. He led the league in wins in 2012-13 (24), shutouts in 2010-11 (11), shots against and saves in 2015-16, and over-time losses in 2018-19 (10).

In 2011-12 Lundqvist was a Hart Trophy finalist, finishing third behind Evgeni Malkin (114 points) and Steven Stamkos (60 goals). His .930 SV% and 1.97 GAA that year rank as a top 20 all-time season for a goaltender with 50 or more appearances.  He reached the 30 win mark in six out of nine complete NHL seasons during the decade, including a career high 39 wins in 2011-12. Additionally Lundqvist  represented the New York Rangers by participating in four out of eight All Star Games.

Overall, for the 2010’s decade, Lundqvist ranks in the top ten in overtime losses (OTL), SV% and shutouts. He ranks in the top five in wins, starts, goals saved above average (GSAA), minutes and quality start percentage (QS%). Lundqvist is first among goaltenders in games played (GP), shots against (SA), saves (SV) and quality starts (QS). The only major statistical area Lundqvist does not finish within the top ten is with a 2.50 GAA, where he finished 14th.

In the Playoffs, Lundqvist has been even better. He backstopped the Rangers to two Eastern Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup appearance. During the decade he posted a record of 15-7 in elimination games with two shutouts. Over the decade, he ranked first with 100 GP, in QS% (62), SA (3007) and SV (2783). He is third in wins (47) and GSAA (38.5), tied for fifth in SV% (.926%). The only thing missing from his playoff resume is a Stanley Cup.

As good as Lundqvist was, the rebuild has taken its toll and he is no longer that same goaltender today. On September 30, 2020 the New York Rangers opted to buy out the final year remaining on the Kings contract. After 15 glorious years, Henrik Lundqvist, the King, is a New York Ranger no more.

The top five Rangers of this decade are fast becoming distant memories.  The good news is looking to the next decade we have a boatload of potential candidates.  It looks like Artemi Panarin has just started and the list of players just starting their Ranger careers is full of promise.

We’ll see in ten years.